Standing Strong (8)
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Encouragement & Warning
Recap: 13-17
Big Idea: A Suffering Christian must be prepared to explain their hope.
Normally doing good does not bring suffering
Believers may sometimes suffer for righteousness
During that suffering, the believer must maintain:
A good conscience
a good conversation
Today:
Big idea: We follow Christ in suffering and in baptism.
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?
But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
Christ suffered once for sins is an important point of Christian doctrine.
For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Salvation for the believer, once they believe, was accomplished on the cross. The believer is free from sin, and does not need to maintain the forgiveness. That was once for all. We can serve him freely and don’t need to wonder if we have kept our salvation. For the one who truly believes, Jesus has dealt with sin, past, present, even future.
Some cults burden their believers that they must maintain or keep up their salvation through works. In this way, they manipulate the emotions of the follower to get them to serve, or give, or whatever. For the Christian, they understand they are freed from those things, so they are free to serve and give. The motivation, then, is entirely different.
So he suffered once. a second important point of doctrine in verse 18 is that he suffered as a righteous one for unrighteous people.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Finally, in 1Pet3.18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. Death and resurrection. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the grave is in us, in whom we live and move and have our being.
Now we get to verse 19, which has been a point of discussion for many a bible study over the years. It has been discussed and theorized what it means, but really it is easy to discern in the text itself, because it is a text within a context. So we look at 19 in light of what is being said in the whole passage and it becomes much easier to understand.
So to understand 19, we really need to keep it in the context of 1Pet3.18-20.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
The questions that come up are:
1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary (ii) Another Example: Noah Witnessed When Persecuted (3:19–20)
1. Who are the spirits in prison?
—unbelievers who have died?
—Old Testament believers who have died?
—fallen angels?
2. What did Christ preach?
—second chance for repentance?
—completion of redemptive work?
—final condemnation?
3. When did he preach?
—in the days of Noah?
—between his death and resurrection?
—after his resurrection?
Let’s try to answer these questions. Who are the spirits in prison?
Well, let’s look back at the last words of 18 and the first few words in 19; “made alive in the spirit, in which” In which refers to the spirit. So the Spirit of Jesus is who preached. Now, who did he preach or proclaim to, what spirits in prison? The answer is in verse 20. The spirits in prison are described. What does it say?
They formerly did not obey. So the spirits in prison at least at one point were disobedient, and the time period in which they were disobedient was in when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared. So the spirits in prison Peter is speaking of here are spirits that are in bondage, in hell, and also who heard the Spirit of Christ, who preached through Noah, a preacher of righteousness.
Now, if we go back to Genesis for a moment, we see that God determined that man was wicked, and Gen6.3
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
and further down: Gen6.6-7
And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
So God determined that he would give 120 years to mankind. The story of Noah was very important to the early church, and should be to believers today, because it teaches about the wrath of God toward sin and the patience of God and the salvation of God.
Peter mentions Noah in his second letter as well, and there he calls hi a preacher or herald of righteousness: 2Pet2.5
if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
So during Noah’s time, scripture tells us that God had determined to give man 120 years. During that 120 years, Noah preached or was a herald of righteousness. When God’s message of righteousness is precahed, it is done through the Spirit of Christ.
and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
So through Noah, the Spirit of Christ was active in preaching. Why are they called the spirits in prison? Because if they heard and refused the Word of God during the days of Noah, then their souls or spirits are in prison, in bondage to everlasting torment and separation from God because of their refusal to believe.
It isn’t that they were imprisoned when this preaching took place. To use an example today, let’s say a teacher had a student when they were young, and now that student got in trouble and found themselves in jail. Let’s say the teacher was named Mr. Jones. We could say, “Mr. Jones taught that prisoner”. And we would not necessarily mean that Mr. Jones taught that prisoner while he was in prison, we would mean that before he became a prisoner, he had been taught by Mr. Jones.
None of the other options offered over time about this passage really hold up to scriptural scrutiny. It was not Old testament believers who died, because they would not be imprisoned. It could not be fallen angels, because scripture teaches fallen angels do not have an opportunity to be redeemed or saved.
There are those who say Christ preached to people in hell between his death and resurrection, but this does not hold up to the context either.
1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary (ii) Another Example: Noah Witnessed When Persecuted (3:19–20)
By saying that Christ went and preached rather than just saying that he ‘preached’, Peter suggests that Christ did not stay in heaven but ‘went’ to where people were disobeying, and there preached to them through the lips of Noah. The content of this preaching was not a message of final condemnation or the completion of redemption , but concerned the need to repent and come to God for salvation. This is what Noah would have preached to those around him (even without extra-biblical literature we would draw this conclusion from
I hope that has been made somewhat more clear, because this whole train of thought has to be understood within the context, and in this context, Peter is flowing straight from the idea of the Spirit of Christ and the preaching of Noah, to the salvation of Noah and his family through the flood, and how this corresponds to baptism.
This may seem redundant, but it is very important that we understand this passage completely, so I will read the whole passage one more time:
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
So while the ark was being prepared, sinners were being called to repentance, but other than Noah’s family, they did not respond to this calling or proclamation. Salvation came to those who believed God and obeyed him. (8 people). The earth was cleansed, so to speak, by the water, as the wicked race of humans was wiped out.
Baptism corresponds to this. Peter is not teaching something different than the rest of scripture about salvation. Baptism now saves you, not as an action, and not as a cleansing, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience.
We do not believe, nor does scripture teach, that baptism is salvation. Rather, baptism is an act of obedience to the saved person, who has recognized their need for reconciliation to God because of their sin, who has put faith in Christ alone as the only way to have that reconciliation, and as a step of obedience in that faith, is baptized, as an appeal to God for a good conscience.
It corresponds to the flood, in that Noah and his family put faith, not in the ark, but in the God who would seal them in, and who shut the door of the ark to give them salvation.
When the believer is baptized, and this is why I believe immersion in water is the biblical form of baptism the early church used, is that we also are relating to Christ, and we are symbolically putting our sin nature to death, and we are symbolically being raised with Christ.
Christ, having been raised, is now seated in heaven, which is a greeat comfort to the believer, who can trust Jesus is on the throne and continuing a ministry of intercession for all believers. And knowing this, and trusting in this, we can be assured of our future, and we can live with confidence in his ultimate provision for us.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
So the Christian may suffer in this life. They may face trials of suffering for righteousness sake. But the example, the premier example, is Christ. He suffered unjustly, and blessed those who cursed him, so we can pray for and show kindness even to those who are against us.
He humbled himself, so we can be humble. His suffering was as a perfectly righteous one, our suffering is as flawed sinners. But the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, so we have the promise and assurances of scripture that he will certainly raise us up in the last day to be with him in glory.
With all of this in mind, we can and should be ready, to in our hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us, doing it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when we are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
We do this with confidence when we know and trust in God’s Word. We do it with the empowerment of the Spirit of God who lives in us, the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the grave. We do it knowing the promises of his final deliverance.
Further, we encourage one another in that boldness, calling each other as believers to live in a manner worthy of our calling, calling each other as believers to boldly live the faith, to proclaim the faith, and to cheerfully accept whatever our lot in life is for now, knowing that in the end, Christ has redeemed us.
So we believe, we are baptized, we continually serve God, not because we don’t trust the salvation is sure so we need to keep earning it, but because we are so sure of our salvation that we serve him joyfully and with great enthusiasm, to bring him pleasure, to honor him with our lives, to bring about his kingdom in our world, and to see his will be done.
Those who do not believe are warned, that if they ignore the gospel of Christ, as those in Noah’s day ignored the Spirit of Christ preaching through Noah, they will have the same ultimate end, as spirits in prison.
So we have, as in all gospel presentations, a warning to those who do not obey God’s call to believe in Jesus, and encouragement to those who do believe to live out the faith they are called to.
